On the day whenthe weight deadenson your shouldersand you stumble,may the clay danceto balance you.And when your eyesfreeze behindthe grey windowand the ghost of lossgets in to you,may a flock of colours,indigo, red, green,and azure bluecome to awaken in youa meadow of delight.

When the canvas fraysin the currach of thoughtand a stain of oceanblackens beneath you,may there come across the watersa path of yellow moonlightto bring you safely home.

May the nourishment of the earth be yours,may the clarity of light be yours,may the fluency of the ocean be yours,may the protection of the ancestors be yours.And so may a slowwind work these wordsof love around you,an invisible cloakto mind your life.

Like a wise man who has seen much, O'Donohue doesn't shy away from the terrible difficulties we all encounter on the journey of life in the opening lines. But he also suggests to us that there is a silent conspiracy to help us forward, support and intelligence in the very earth beneath our feet.On the day when the weight deadens on your shoulders and you stumble, may the clay dance to balance you.

His lines are not only filled with a patient sort of compassion, he reminds us that compassion and quiet wisdom is present all around us.May the nourishment of the earth be yours, may the clarity of light be yours, may the fluency of the ocean be yours, may the protection of the ancestors be yours.

I think the real power of a blessing poem like this is that it weaves a new vision of the world in words. The real blessing gives us is new eyes.may a flock of colours, indigo, red, green, and azure blue come to awaken in you a meadow of delight.

The real blessing is that these words give us new ways to view the world we encounter, laying for us a new pattern for ordering our perception of reality. If we let it, this blessing becomes "an invisible cloak," a heartful awareness that is a gentle buffer while it also keeps us connected to our world.And so may a slow wind work these words of love around you, an invisible cloak to mind your life.